


Rebels Off Duty

by Morlemia_R



Category: Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canon Era, Drinking, One Big Happy Family, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Snowball Fight, There is a lot of downtime in war, We'll see what happens - Freeform, except Leia, heavily inspired by the TV show MASH, that's it that's the fic, they're all idiots, we're filling in some of the blanks between films
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-24
Updated: 2020-02-25
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:00:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22885948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Morlemia_R/pseuds/Morlemia_R
Summary: A collection of non-linear vignettes taking place between A New Hope and Return of the Jedi, focused solely on the day-to-day lives of the rebels when they were between battles and very, very bored.
Relationships: Leia Organa/Han Solo
Comments: 4
Kudos: 23





	1. Rogue Sopranos

**Author's Note:**

> So I love the show M*A*S*H and one night when I was rewatching it I got this idea; five years passed between ANH and ROTJ, and obviously a lot happened in that time-frame, but not all of it was some big thing, a lot of it would just have been the monotony of living on a base, knowing you might have to leave at any minute and still trying to make the best of it. This is my attempt at filling in some of those blanks, and also my excuse to write everyone behaving like idiots and Leia just needing a nap. And, as it were, my love letter to M*A*S*H. Some future chapters may be inspired by specific episodes? Who knows. This is still an ongoing process.
> 
> This first chapter is a lot shorter than the others will probably be, and also, a lot OLDER. I wrote this a year ago and never posted it, but figured, eh, might as well!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rogue Squadron throws a party and discover they have a new talent; serenading the base.

“Leia, I never wanted to have to ask you this, but did I do anything indecent last night?”

Leia raised her head from the grim looking food on her plate to gaze at him. Luke thought he saw a tight smile tugging at her lips. 

“Why do you ask?”

_Why do I ask? Because I woke up with Wedge and Hobbie in my bed, except it wasn’t even my bed, it was Han’s. And I had a pounding headache._

Luke leaned back and studied her a moment. Leia, in the three years he had known her, had never looked so giddy. She seemed like a child who was anxious to tell someone the surprise they had planned, but all at once still wanted it to be a surprise.

“You know something.”

“I know a lot of things, Luke. That’s what it takes to help run a rebellion,”

“ _Leia._ I don’t get mad often-”

“Luke, you don’t even know _how_ to get mad.”

“I think I’m learning.” There was a cold silence as Leia carefully bit down on her food, licking the spoon. Now Luke was certain. Leia must know something _terrible_ about him to be acting so unguarded.

“Leia.” he leaned across the table, though he knew better than to touch her arm. “Please?”

“Oh, fine.” She set down her spoon and mimicked him, leaning forward. “Last night, the Rogues had a bit of a party to celebrate a successful mission.”

“I remember that part.”

“I figured you would, you weren’t drunk yet. And you were _on_ the mission,” She took a moment to unceremoniously roll her eyes before continuing. _Oh, sleemo, does Leia think I’m disgusting because I got drunk?_ “Anyway, you and the others all attended-”

“Was Han there?”

“I don’t keep tabs on him!” Leia snapped and Luke held up his hands. She took a deep breath. “But yes. He was.”

“Okay, good.”

“Good?”

“I woke up...nevermind, just go on,”

“Right. Well, you went to the party. Anyway, that was actually the last I saw of you until I heard you and the rogues singing loudly off-key. I came to make sure one of you hadn’t choked on your own vomit, and found Han ordering you all to go sleep it off.” She cracked a smile. “It was actually a very pretty song, until Dak suggested you switch it up to the ballad of the one-armed Twi’lek. I think maybe the party may have moved around the base, as well? The singing traveled.”

Luke ran a hand through his hair and blushed so hard he wondered if there was any blood left in the rest of his body. “That’s...not like me.”

Leia smirked and narrowed her eyebrows. “Luke, It’s alright. Everyone gets drunk. Remember that little get-together you had after the destruction of the Death Star?”

“Oh, don’t remind me,” Luke slunk his head further down his arm until it rested on the table. 

Back then, a new recruit with the rebellion and more than a little naive (not to mention an eager nineteen-year-old), Luke had agreed to chug some whiskey in celebration. He had then proceeded to throw up for the rest of the night in Wedge’s bathroom with a passed out Wedge lying on the floor next to him. The only bright side to the whole ordeal was the friendship that blossomed between them over their shared misery.

Coming back to the present moment, he looked up. “Besides, not _everyone_ gets drunk. _You_ don’t get drunk.”

Leia’s eyes darted away and back; she almost seemed put out by the comment. (How was Luke to know that she, pure Princess that she was, _did_ in fact get very drunk and Han had seen her that way twice?) Before he could say anything, though, her expression turned professional, contradicting her humorous voice. “Well. Not everyone can be me.”

Luke chuckled. “That’s true,”

“Try to stay hydrated. I don’t envy the hangover I’m sure you have.” Leia patted his hand and began to stand up, collecting her tray with her. He gaped.

“That’s it? I still don’t know half of what happened to me!”

“Well, Luke, I don’t attend parties so I only know what I vaguely heard. Besides, maybe it’s best you _don’t_ know and just get back to work.” She gave a little smile again and walked off across the eating room, Luke watching her go and then looking at his surroundings; vines crawled around the entrances, as they did throughout the base, but such was the case when hiding on a planet covered in swampland.

Luke took a deep breath and the scent of caf greeted him, wafting up from the cup he had forgotten. Honestly, he had never been a huge fan of the stuff until he joined the alliance. Here, it kept you running.

The mess hall was almost completely empty, everyone off doing real work, _important work,_ and he wondered if Leia was right; it was silly to focus on something so trivial and most definitely embarrassing as last night. He didn’t need or want to know.

And yet he found himself heading off in the direction of the _Falcon._

  
  


-

“Hey, there’s the man of the hour!” Wes cried out as soon as Luke’s feet hit the hanger floor. 

“Shut up, Wes, you’re making it worse!” Hobbie yelled before grabbing his head. It seemed _all_ the rogues were just as hungover and shameful as Luke- all except Wes, of course.

“Wedge around?”

“Nah, we thought he was with you. And if you have any questions, I don’t remember.” Hobbie replied, turning back to his X-Wing. Luke bit his lip and continued up the ramp to the _Falcon,_ hoping Han was back finally. When he woke up in his bed with Hobbie and Wedge, (plus Zev, now that he thought about it...he was on the floor though…) he had just snuck out when he found that Han wasn’t there to explain.

“Hey, Chewie,” Luke called when a warble echoed to him from the cockpit. “Han around?”

“Well, well, well,” A familiar voice called and he turned to see Han, slightly smudged with grease and looking as smug as ever, leaning against an open panel. “If it isn’t one of the talented members of the Rogue Squadron. Or should I say, Rogue Sopranos?”

Luke ran a hand through his hair and tried to sound in charge. “Han, I just want a clear cut story of what I did last night.”

“Couldn’t your Jedi powers tell you that?” Han teased and Luke paused.

“I hadn’t actually thought of that. I doubt it would work,”

Han rolled his eyes in almost the exact same fashion Leia had earlier and wiped his hands on a rag. “Sit down, kid,”

Luke slid into the booth, Han on an empty crate. He paused a moment before grinning. “Can I get you a drink? Whiskey maybe?”

“Shut up, Han.”

Han smiled wider. “Alright, look, I wasn’t there the whole time. But I was there for the start and the very end, so I should paint a pretty clear picture.”

He coughed, then held his hands up. “Imagine a party. You, the rogues and I are all hanging out in the hangar bay drinking and playing some sabacc. Well, the night wears on and the drinks get a little stronger. The stakes get a little more interesting.”

“I don’t understand _why_ I agreed to drink so much-” Luke contemplated only to get a frown from Han.

“I’m telling the story, kid. And the answer is that Hobbie had some liquor stashed away that you all didn’t _quite_ understand. Only myself and a few of the others knew not to drink too much. The rest of you were harder to stop.”

“Anyway,” Han waved in dismissal. “At some point, you started humming in your drunken state and Wedge said you had a beautiful singing voice, to which _you_ replied that he had never really heard you sing. So when Hobbie yelled that it was your fault for never showing us, you began shouting some weird tune you claimed was all the rage on Tatooine. Afterwards, Hobbie claimed he had a better voice than you and sang a less obscure, but still poorly sung, song. That was when Wedge bet that the loser of the sabacc game had to go serenade Leia.”

“Oh no.” Luke whispered and Han shook his head.

“Don’t worry, I took care of it. Instead, I suggested that you all start a band and just serenade the whole base.”

“Han!”

“Hey, it’s better than getting killed by Leia. She gets too little sleep as is, I wasn’t gonna let you guys wake her up,” Luke frowned just slightly at that and began to ask how Han would know that, but Han plowed on before he could open his mouth. “So, you said that was a great idea and began practicing and I went back to the _Falcon._ A few hours later, I heard you all again and came out to find Hobbie basically hobbling and Wedge nearly passed out on your shoulder. Oh, and did I mention Leia was behind you? Yeah, she was telling you all to get back to your rooms before someone else caught you and you got in real trouble. So I offered to get you all back to bed, but Hobbie was nearly dead so I let you all crash on the Falcon.”

Luke swallowed hard. “Leia didn’t mention that.”

“Whatever, kid.” Han smacked him hard on the back and shrugged. “You get drunk during wartime. It’s part of the experience.”

“Sure.” Luke moaned before sitting up a little straighter. “Oh, hey, do you know where Wedge went, then?”

Han’s face grew dark, but there was still a certain amount of humor there. “Well ‘course I do. He’s in the ‘fresher, cleaning up the spot where he missed when he threw up.” Another grin. “Make you feel any less embarrassed about what _you_ did last night?”


	2. The Real Battle of Hoth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The entire base engages in a snowball fight. Well. Most of the base.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are several, super freaking cute behind-the scenes pictures of Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill playing in the snow on the set of Empire Strikes Back. This particular story was heavily inspired by them.

The entire base had a certain tension to it, but after days of nothingness, there was something else, too. Something a little like boredom.

Each day, Leia woke up expecting to find Vader next to her bed, like he always was in her nightmares. The empire was looking for them, they all knew it. And yet, day after day...nothing. And Hoth was hell already, so adding the waiting and the fear and the cold…

Everyone did their jobs. They went about their day, they ran missions, they carved out a home in the ice and the snow. And then, in the hours between work, they sat around, twiddling their thumbs. Leia didn’t let herself do that, though; she worked herself until she passed out. Boredom was dangerous. And her fight instincts were on high alert.

Which was why when Leia walked out into the area near where the Tauntauns were kept and got pelted with a snowball, she drew her blaster.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Hobbie cried, hands raised and eyes frozen in fear. “I’m sorry, your highness, I thought you were Wes!”

Leia put her blaster down and frowned at him. “What are you talking about?”

“Um, well, your highness,” Hobbie looked embarrassed. Strange, Leia hadn’t thought Hobbie was capable of embarrassment. Or maybe it was just her; she had been told she had a way of putting people off. Not that that was a bad thing. Actually, Leia rather considered it her superpower. 

“Wes and I kinda have a snowball fight going on.”

Leia looked around. “I don’t see Wes?”

“No, see, it’s a continuous snowball fight. We’re keeping tally of how many times we hit the other throughout the week, and whoever has the most at the end wins.” He shrugged. “It’s more exciting, that way. Ya never know when you’re going to get hit,”

In the privacy of her own mind, Leia found it ironic that two soldiers on downtime found it relaxing to ‘get hit’ randomly, but after pondering it for a few more minutes, it actually made a lot of sense.

On Alderaan, she’d had plenty of snowball fights. On the rare occasions one or both of her parents were free, they’ take trips up into the mountains. Breha had an amazing aim when she threw. Leia did, too, probably because she was so skilled with a blaster. Bail always ended up getting pelted.

The tight feeling in Leia’s chest thinking about them made her dizzy, and Hobbie must have noticed her distant look and backed up, still apologizing.

“Why keep the rest of the base out on the fun?” Leia commented. Hobbie seemed confused.

“Uh, what?”

Leia glanced across the expanse to where the ships were resting. If nothing else, it would be a great excuse to send some ice Han’s way. “Everyone is bored and stressed. Get all the rest of Rogue Squadron in on it; I’ll see if I can convince high command. It’ll be more scores to keep track of, but I think it’ll be more interesting, as well. And, I don’t think it should be a week; let’s make it a month.”

Hobbie seemed shocked. Leia straightened up. “Well, what are you waiting for? Hop to it, soldier,”

“Oh, right, yes, right-” he took off running across the base, a huge grin on his face. Leia smiled to herself and kept walking.

She could be fun, no matter what people said about her. She could be fun.

Especially when she was playing a game she knew she was going to win.

  
-

Most people on the base didn’t quite know where it started. Well, no, they knew where it  _ started _ ; a very weird broadcast stating that the base was now in a snowball fight for the following month. A broadcast spoken by a visiting  _ Mon Mothma herself.  _ It was ridiculous. But she said clearly it had been the idea of others, not her own, and most everyone wasn’t sure who threw the first punch, so to speak. Hobbie and Wes claimed the original idea was theirs, but no one believed they convinced high command, at which point Hobbie again rattled off a story about princess Leia being behind it, and everyone laughed.

Despite not knowing the beginning, though, they were very much in the thick of it by the time Han returned from a recent trip to bring back more supplies. He was tired and sweaty and annoyed about how badly he wanted to find Leia, and he took one step off his ship and-

- _ whump.  _ Something cold hit the side of his back and trickled down his parka. He turned slowly, incredulous, and heard a whoop of glee from behind a snowspeeder.

“Solo down a point!” He saw something white fly through the air from a stack of crates. The same gleeful voice shouted, “Ow!”

“Antilles down a point!” Another voice cried, cackling. That voice Han knew. He walked with careful strides to behind the crates and peered down at a disheveled, snow covered Luke, who grinned back up at him. It was one of those moments where Han could really see the difference in their ages.

Although, maybe age had nothin’ to do with it; Leia was the same age as Luke and Han never remembered it.

_ Leia. _

Dammit, now he was thinking about her again.

“Hi!” Luke said cheerilly.

“What’s goin’ on, kid?”

“Snowball fight!” He shouted, standing up with a big grin. “I’ve never been in one, you know, growing up with sand,”

“What?” Han frowned.

“The whole base is currently in the middle of a war.”

“Yeah, I know, I just got  _ back  _ from said war,”

“No, Han, a war of snowballs. They’re keeping track of our score in the command center. And you’re already down a point!” Something cold whizzed by them and Luke shrieked and ducked back behind the crates.

“No Jedi powers to save you now, Skywalker!” Someone screamed.

Han glanced over at Chewie with a confused expression.  _ And these idiots are going to take down the Empire? _

-

At the beginning of the month, the ‘war’ was pretty divided, class wise; the soldiers and the pilots and the new recruits all pelted each other while still remaining pretty respectful of the people in charge. Until one morning General Rieekan got hit twice and, following it, managed to score six shots against the Rogue Group by lunch.

After that, all bets were off.

Luke, as Rogue Leader, assembled a team to attack General Madine as a unit, so if he got angry no one person would get all the heat; they bombarded him from the top of one of the ships and ran off while he sputtered out curses. Major Derlin struck back for him and dumped sixteen snowballs on Wedge during their morning caf. Major Farr managed to score twenty points while still hooked up to the communication tower, and she got some immunity for it, because no one was allowed to hit her back in case they accidentally hit the device. When she left for dinner, though, General McQuarrie (one of the people she had wronged during her attack) and Captain Valdez both hit her with twenty snowballs in total.

No military status or level of respect was keeping anyone safe anymore.

Except for one person.

Han didn’t pay much attention to the game, or the scoreboard, unless he was actively being attacked. And even then, most of the time he just returned the fire and kept on his way. It wasn’t until he came into the main control room and saw the scoreboard that something caught his eye;

Leia had one-hundred and fifty-two points. Which, in reality, wasn’t  _ that  _ much when you considered how many rebels were on base and how many snowballs you could throw over the course of a minute. No, the strange thing was, unlike everyone else who had dashes and notes about getting hit back and counterattacks, Leia had nothing. The only person who had returned a single attack was Luke and Hobbie, as a unit, and they only did it once. And, now that Han thought about it, he had seen the two of them being lectured by General Rieekan last week, and both of them had left the conversation looking upset and throwing angst-filled glances in Leia’s direction across the hanger.

Had Leia been given immunity? Or was everyone just...Han scoffed at the thought, but then his face settled into a grimace. No, it was very possible that was true. Painfully so. Hadn’t Leia complained about as much last month, when she stopped by the  _ Falcon  _ for a glass of Corellian whiskey?  _ Was everyone too afraid of Leia to actually play with her? _

Han left the room and tried to shrug it off; so what if that was true? Leia was probably living for how well she was doing. She loved to win. And she deserved to win, she’d had enough crap in her life.

That opinion swiftly changed, however, when Han saw with his own two eyes how blind everyone was being. He’d just gotten back from the mess hall and was headed to the  _ Falcon  _ to start on some repairs when he saw it. Leia, moving across the hanger, datapad clutched under one arm. He saw her stop short, zoning in on Hobbie, who was bent over the side of his snowspeeder. He saw an evil gleam enter her eye as she tucked the datapad more securely under her arm. He saw her bend over, collect up a large portion of snow and, with the exact same dedication she used to fire a blaster, send the missile off.

It hit Hobbie square in the back and he cried out, grinning as he spun around, ready to retaliate. Leia didn’t even try to run, a smirk painted on her features.

Hobbie’s smile died. “Oh. Uh, good shot!” He called out, and then turned back to his engine.

Han watched all the joy in Leia die. She rolled her shoulders and yanked her datapad forward and began to type. When she passed Han in the entrance, she didn’t even look up, didn’t even say some annoyed remark of, ‘You’re in my way, hotshot,’ or ‘what are you doing wasting time when there’s work to be done?’ She just kept her head down and kept moving. And Han felt his anger overflow. He stalked across the hanger and right up to Hobbie, yanking him back.

“What the hell is goin’ on?”

“Kriff, Solo, I almost fell off the ladder!” Hobbie shouted indignantly. Han growled.

“Good. Now why didn’t you retaliate against her worshipfulness?”

Hobbie frowned. “Why would you care? Aren’t you two-” Hobbie grinned and made air quotes. “-’enemies’?”

“Shut up and answer the question or  _ we’re  _ going to be enemies.”

Hobbie sighed and climbed down, stopping to lean against the side of the snowspeeder.

“Look, we aren’t supposed to talk about it-”

“Talk about what?” Luke asked, as if he  _ sensed  _ gossip. It had gotten better, in the three and a half years Luke had lived with the rebellion, but the first few months there Luke had been, well,  _ very  _ much a nineteen-year-old, complete with the ‘who’s dating who? Who did what? I’ve gotta tell everyone!’ attitude.

Hobbie sighed. “Solo wants to know what’s going on with the princess and the snowball fight.”

Luke stopped smiling. “Oh.”

“One of you just-” Han began, wanting to shake them.

“We  _ did  _ hit her back.” Hobbie explained. “One day, we found her doing some work in one of the hallways and Luke and I got a couple good shots at her. General Rieekan saw us and pretended he needed something, and when he called us over to talk to us, he told us…” Hobbie swallowed and glanced at Luke, who carried on the story.

“Rieekan is from Alderaan, you know that, right?” Luke asked. Han nodded, an uneasy feeling settling in his stomach. “Well, he kinda knew Leia’s parents, and he knows Leia pretty well, and he told us snowball fights were something they did. You know. As a family. And that Leia probably would appreciate it if we didn’t remind her of that all the time.”

Han’s frown deepened. “What, and Rieekan told that story to the whole base?”

“Nah, most of the base I just think are afraid of her, but Rieekan told us I think because he knew we aren’t. Luke because he’s got a death-wish-”

“Hey, Leia isn’t that scary,” Luke snapped, hitting Hobbie in the arm. Hobbie continued like nothing had happened.

“-and me because I know the whole thing was Leia’s idea.”

Luke and Han’s heads snapped to him. “What?” Luke cried.

“Yeah, no one believes me, but Leia was the one who suggested we turn it into a base-wide battle.”

That made up Han’s mind. He stepped a little closer to the two men and lowered his voice.

“Alright, listen up. There’s only one week left in this month, and we are gonna give Leia a kriffin’ run for her money; she wants people to attack her, or she wouldn’t have suggested it, and we’re going to bring it. You with me, or am I doing this alone?”

Luke immediately grinned. Hobbie looked uneasy, but eventually, he shrugged. “Yeah, what’s the worst that happens, if I die by Leia’s hands it’s better than dying by Vader’s,”

Luke looked appalled as Han slapped him on the back. “Yeah, that’s the spirit,”

-

Leia was busy with reports for the next several days and mostly stayed shut up in her room, so Han wasn’t able to put his plan into action until three days before the whole thing was set to be over. When it did happen, however, the timing could not have been more perfect.

He saw her cross the hallway to the mess, and almost jumped up and down in excitement; she would have to cross back through the hanger to get to the command center. He grabbed Chewie and Luke and Hobbie and they hid behind a snowspeeder with a neat stack of snowballs, waiting.

Sure enough, exactly half an hour later, she waltzed back through, yawning and looking, for all intents and purposes, very tired and very tense.

So Han did the right thing. The kind thing. The sort of thing only a friend would do.

And smacked her (very gently, mind you) in the back of the head with a snowball.

Leia stopped walking. She turned, very slowly, and when she saw who the culprit was, Han grinned.

“How’s it feel to be on the  _ receiving _ end of some ice, princess?” Luke tugged Han’s pants, looking utterly terrified.

Leia, however, looked malicious. Excited.  _ Giddy.  _ “You ready to die, smuggler?” She hissed, bending down slowly and collecting a ball of snow in her gloved hands. Before she could throw it, Han picked up another one from their pile and sent it flying. Leia jumped to the side and tossed hers, and then Hobbie and Luke and Chewie got into the spirit and stood up, beginning their assault.

“You had back up! No fair!” Leia screamed, diving behind a packing crate. Han had never heard her use the words  _ ‘no fair’  _ before and he relished it. They tossed snow back and forth across the hanger, screaming and yelling-

-and then several of the Rogue Group made the misinformed decision to come through the door, catching them directly in the crossfire. They cried out and ran towards the speeder, and Luke shouted, “RETREAT!”

“No, you aren’t getting off that easy!” Leia screamed, and Han laughed as she zoned in on him, one snowball in each hand, chasing him down the hallway as the Rogue Group opened up a whole new barrage of fire behind them. Han threw a snowball at a passing sergeant Hollis, who gave Han a rude gesture, and Leia hit him with a second one. They made a wide, arcing circle that eventually landed them back in the hanger, where somehow, most of the rebellion had now congregated and were exchanging attacks all over the place. Leia squealed and grabbed Han’s arm, pulling him to the side of the  _ Falcon  _ for cover. Apparently, they were on the same side now.

Han had no way to tell how much time passed, by he did know it was quite a bit, judging by the fact that when they started the doors to outside were open, and the fight had to end because they needed to be closed and everyone needed to go back to manning their stations. Han, despite his parka, was soaked, the snow having trickled down from his hair to his back. No one looked much better, faces red with exertion and laughing too long. Overall, everyone looked...oddly relaxed. He watched Luke congratulate his Rogues on a successful mission, and saw two of the pilots making out in the snow. He turned to Leia.

Her eyes were bright, and a huge smile was plastered across her face. Her hair was wet, and her gloves didn’t look much better. But for the first time since they met, Han could see some of that same youth Luke displayed all the time. And maybe even happiness.

“Thanks, Han,” she whispered quietly, brushing some snow off his shoulder.

“Anytime, princess-” he managed to get out before her other hand came up and rubbed a fresh glob of the white stuff in his face. He cried out as she turned and left, laughter trailing after her all the way down the hall.

**Author's Note:**

> Come visit me on Tumblr: https://morlemia.tumblr.com/  
> Or YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCo5h5M0rZXp5TN6fLu4tc4g
> 
> If you have any ideas or prompts you want to see, feel free to send them my way! Or just come yell at me about your love of Star Wars.  
> -Morlemia


End file.
